My Favorite Music Releases of 2007

I made this list a few weeks ago.

Here are my criteria for my list: 1) I include various artists compilations unless they’re just “Best of’s” and/or label comps, and most songs have been released previously; 2) I include reissues as long as the previous or original issue was very difficult to find, out of print for a long, long time, and/or was never properly issued in mass quantities until 2007 (e.g., the Sebadoh and Townes Van Zandt reissues are not eligible); and 3) Eligible albums include those that may have been released in late 2006 (like in December) that I didn’t hear of until 2007.

I’d also like to note two more things.  First, I was lucky enough to have acquired a very limited press Warhammer 48k An Ethereal Oracle CD in 2006; it was re-released (in slightly larger quantities) by Permanent Records on vinyl in 2007...had I not already had this album, it would most definitely be on my list.  Second, Circle (one of my favorite bands ever) released at least 7 albums in 2007 (including reissues).  One of their reissues was the long out-of-print Sunrise album.  If I didn’t already own this, this would’ve probably been my #1 album of 2007.

Here are my honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)

The Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge)

Avarus - Rasvaaja (Secret Eye)

Sir Richard Bishop - While My Guitar Violently Bleeds (Locust)

Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow (Drag City/Pedal)

Anne Briggs - The Time Has Come (Water)

Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)

Circle - Katapult (No Quarter)

Circle (featuring Verde) - Tower (Last Visible Dog)

Karen Dalton - Cotton Eyed Joe (Megaphone)

Fursaxa - Alone in the Dark Wood (ATP Recordings)

Ghost - In Stormy Nights (Drag City)

Daniel A.I.U. Higgs - Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot (Thrill Jockey)

Michael Hurley - Ancestral Swamp (Gnomonsong Recordings)

Krypt Axeripper - Mechanical Witch (Ektro)

NVH/Chasny - Plays the Book of Revelations (Yik Yak)

Pekos/Yoro Diallo - S/T (Yaala Yaala)

The Ponys - Turn the Lights Out (Matador)

Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch and Go)

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)

Sunburned Circle - The Blaze Game (Conspiracy)

The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.)

Wiley - Playtime is Over (Big Dada)

Here’s the Top 25 (in descending order):

25. High on Fire - Death Is This Communion (Relapse)

24. The Dead C - Future Artists (Ba Da Bing)

23. Circle - Panic (Ektro)

22. Radiohead - In Rainbows (self-released)

21. Jay-Z - American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella)

20. Six Organs of Admittance - Shelter From the Ash (Drag City)

19. Pink Reason - Cleaning the Mirror (Siltbreeze)

18. Meg Baird - Dear Companion (Drag City)

17. V/A - Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s (Sublime Frequencies)

16. Blues Control - S/T (Holy Mountain)

15. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)

14. Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer (Omni Recording Corporation)

13. Lambsbread - Stereo Mars (Ecstatic Peace)

12. Kemialliset Ystävät - Untitled (Fonal)

11. Wooden Shjips - S/T (Holy Mountain)

10. Deerhunter - Cryptograms (Kranky)

9. Von Südenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions (Domino)

8. Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments (Drag City)

7. V/A - Carolina Funk (Jazzman)

6. Dinosaur Jr - Beyond (Fat Possum)

5. Keith Hudson (and the Soul Syndicate) - Nuh Skin Up (Pressure Sounds)

4. M.I.A. - Kala (XL)

3. V/A - Melodii Tuvi: Throat Songs and Folk Tunes from Tuva (Dust to Digital)

2. Eroc - 1 (Brain/Universal)

1. Times New Viking - Present The Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze)